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4/15/2014
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Addressing Discipline Disparities andPunitive Punishment:
A School Improvement Project atVerona Area High School
Professor Liz Drame, UW-MilwaukeePam Hammen, Principal, Verona Area High School
Alan Buss, School Psychologist and Behavioral Support Team LeaderErin Schettler, Director of Student Services, Verona Area School District
We are Committed toClosing the OpportunityGap at VAHS!
A look at our baseline data…
• Academic Achievement (Instruction)• AP Enrollment (Instruction)• Athletics and Co-Curricular
Participation (Community andEngagement)
• Special Education Identification• Out of School Suspensions (Community
and Engagement)
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Demographic Data 2013-14
Academic Performance in Reading
Academic Performance in Math
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And then when you compoundissues…
AP Enrollment Data
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Disproportionality in SpecialEducation at VAHS
Race/ Ethnicity Count ofStudents
% of Students withDisabilities
% of that Racew/Disability
Asian 3 2.1% 5.26%
Black 30 21.3% 24.00%
Hispanic 17 12.1% 9.71%
White 85 60.3% 7.74%
Two or More 6 4.3% 14.29%
Athletic and Extra-Curriculars
Athletics% of
Participants% of
PopulationELL 1% 5.40%Low-Income 9% 22.80%Black 6% 8.30%Hispanic 3% 11.60%Asian 3% 3.80%White 88% 72.80%
AcademicClubs/Teams
% ofParticipants
White 85%Black 2%Hispanic 10%Asian 10%ELL 1%
StudentLeadershipOrganizations
% ofParticipants
White 91%Black 1%Hispanic 2%Asian 5%ELL 1%
OSS Data 2012-2013
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What’s Getting These KidsSuspended???
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Asian Black Hispanic White
Comparison of OSS by Race2012-2014
Sum of %ofIncidences2012-13
Sum of %ofIncidences2013-14
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Asian Black Hispanic White
% of Students Receiving OSS by Race
Sum of % ofTotalStudentsOSS 12-13
Sum of % ofStudents2013-14
Mission of ourBuilding Equity Team
To work collaboratively andcourageously with the student equityteam to increase awareness that leadsto adaptive change and creates aninviting and culturally responsiveenvironment for our students andstaff.
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Aspects of this work…• Work in partnership with our Student
Equity Team• Establish sub-committees charged with
development of a 1-3 year Action Plan– School Community – focus on professional
development• Begin with opportunities (Beyond Diversity) to explore
self-awareness regarding race/ethnicity/culturaldifferences
• Focus on climate, culture, and relationships
– Instruction – focus on culturally responsivecurriculum & pedagogy, universal design forlearning, integrated service delivery
– Athletics and Co-Curriculars
Collaboration withStudent Equity Team
• Establish a holistic teamof student leaders
• Focus discussion onimproving instructionalpractices, creating amore equitable culture,and giving students“voice”.
Improve Instruction – We havePartnered With:
• Boys and Girls Clubof Dane Country – todevelop the VeronaCollege Club
• Equal OpportunitySchools – to improveaccess to APcoursework.
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Verona College Club
• 80 students enrolled, 20 in eachgrade level.
• VCC student demographics include: 6white students, 27 Latino, 1 MiddleEastern and 61 Black students and 5bi-racial Caucasian/Black.
• Over 90% are free and reduced lunchstatus.
VCC Primary goals include:• Supporting students in achieving a .5 GPA
increase with a top goal of moving theiroverall GPA above 3.0
• College and Career Exploration,Preparedness, and Application
• ACT Prep
GPA Comparison for VCCSeniors
20 Seniors Enrolled for 1.5 Years
Seniors Enrolled in Verona College Club
Pre-GPA Post-GPA Gain
StudentAverages 2.5 2.9565 0.4565
Pre-GPA is cumulative, Post-GPA is Sem. 1 of 2013-14
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Improve Instruction – We haveAccessed:
• WI DPI & Dr. Shelley Zion, CulturallyResponsive Urban Education Center – 8VAHS teachers trained this year
• Dr. Elise Frattura, UW-Milwaukee oninclusive service delivery – 9th and 10th gradefocus
• Work with Barbara Bray and KathleenMcClaskey, consultants, PersonalizeLearning – teacher training and a focus on UDL
Athletics and Co-Curriculars• Issues: Early access, geographic, financial, familial, &
cultural barriers to participation
• Results: Under-represented students lack a sense ofcommunity (Madison or Verona?), these students cannotaccess camps and opportunities, other students have,and they believe these opportunities are not availableto them so why try.
• Solutions:1. 8th Grade Club Rush2. 9th Grade Club Rush3. 9th Grade Mentor Program4. Coach/Adviser/Leader - Beyond Diversity Training
•
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Community
• Positive social, emotional, andbehavioral support team
• Realization that it’s so much morethan simply behavior
All this leads to…
Our help came from…
Professor Decoteau Irby
Professor Liz Drame
Professor Cindy Clough
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The Framework for Change
A Participatory Research Project
Overview and GoalsThis project uses a four-stage participatoryprocess to reform and improve school disciplinepolicies and climate in the Verona Area SchoolDistrict. Specific project goals include:
• To understand school climate, discipline policies,and outcomes;
• To reform discipline policies, reduce disparities,and improve climate (reduce incidents); and
• To work with the school climate and equityleadership teams to develop a process forongoing school improvement.
Our Approach• Listening stance
• Participatory stance
• Capacity building stance
• Focus on assets
• Trust and relationship building isintegral to the process
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Premises
• We are interested in developing anunderstanding of perceptions of the school,nature of relationships, and belongingness.
• Emphasis on where the school community is.• The goal is to reflect these understandings
back to the school community forinterpretation and action.
• Not interested in evaluating the efficacy ofspecific efforts, programs, strategiesattempted or implemented thus far orevaluating teachers.
• Goal is to build school members’ capacity tocarry out the work of reflection and schoolimprovement in the future on a regular basis.
ParticipatoryResearch Principles
• Participatory research focuses on assets.• Scaling up and replicating what works drawing
on the expertise of the current faculty, staff,and students.
• Strategies and outcomes are notpredetermined…have to develop comfort withambiguity and fluidity of process.
• Involvement throughout of typicallymarginalized members of the community.
• Creation of safe spaces for stakeholders tofeel comfortable with giving voice to theirperspectives.
• Expect and value differences and conflicts asopportunities for learning and relationshipbuilding.
Philosophies of Discipline• We really want to understand
– How people conceptualize discipline– How discipline relates to school success– Strategies for fostering school discipline
• Behaviorist perspective on discipline– Focus on compliance, rule driven and adult-
centered• Relational, restorative perspective on
discipline– Focus on healthy relationships and community
driven; does not assume no conflicts• Interest perspective on discipline
– Focus on engagement and learning, student-centered
• There is a role for every perspective
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Important Considerations• Modeling discipline as interest and
restorative practices throughout the process.• Voluntary participation.• Buy-in is critical (have to want to deal with
these issues and want to repair the harm ofdisproportionate treatment).
• Importance of vulnerability.• Use of technology to support ongoing
communication.• Not promoting a particular model or
approach; suggestions will derive from schoolcommunity.
Project Stages
Stage one: District wide climatesurvey to be administered andprocessed by investigators. Report ofsurvey results distributed to thedistrict within one month aftercollection.
Timeline: March for surveyadministration / April for report
Stage four: Ongoing support for policyand practice implementation andcontinued data collection.
Timeline: 2014 / 2015 academic year
Stage two: Focus groups will be conductedby investigators to explore the data withstakeholders and develop understanding ofstakeholder perceptions of the data.
Timeline: Focus groups in May
Stage three: 3 day data retreat will beconducted to support stakeholderanalysis and use of district data to informpolicy and practice revisions andreforms.
Timeline: August 2014
Research Strategies
• Survey: Adaptation of Safe Schools,Healthy Students national survey– Will conduct analysis of survey by and
across subgroups. Will analyze these datain conjunction with the school’sbehavioral data.
– Detailed mini-reports provided to schoolcommunity (importance of transparency).
• Focus groups: The focus groups willbe focused on making sense of thesurvey data and the school levelbehavioral infraction data.
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Communication withStakeholders
Initial Survey Data
What do you think the finding below means?
How might your interpretation change in relation to studentsurvey data?
Initial Survey data
What do you think is underlying the perception of staff abouttheir school environment as a work place?
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Initial Survey Data
How does your initial interpretation of the data above changegiven that the majority of staff feel that their school is a safeplace to work?
Research Strategies
• Data retreat– Focus on data and policy analysis.– Understanding interpretations of the data to date
from sense-making work of the focus groups andother data.
– Analysis of impact of current discipline policies onstudent and school success.
– Development of revised policy that aligns withschool’s commitments.
– Identification of strategies and approaches todiscipline that align with revised policy and vision.
– Action planning for implementation for upcomingschool year.
Closing thoughts …
• From O – 7th grade black boy inmajority white gifted educationclassroom in LAUSD.
• From S – 8th grade black boy indiverse gifted classroom in MPS.
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Working together, now we’re…
Contact InformationProfessor Decoteau IrbyUniversity of [email protected]
Professor Liz DrameUniversity of [email protected]
Pam HammenVerona Area High [email protected]
Research Can Be FUN!!!
